{"id":11564437,"date":"2025-07-17T14:07:48","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T18:07:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/?p=11564437"},"modified":"2025-07-17T14:07:48","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T18:07:48","slug":"chris-roemer-school-leaders-know-what-students-need-commentary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/2025\/07\/17\/chris-roemer-school-leaders-know-what-students-need-commentary\/","title":{"rendered":"Chris Roemer: School leaders know what students need | COMMENTARY"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I was the principal of Westminster East Middle School, I made a concerted effort to connect with families who often felt overlooked.<\/p>\n

Our outreach efforts were not zero-sum undertakings. Meeting the needs of the underserved did not mean ignoring the needs of other students.<\/p>\n

One of the first things we did was host forums designed to give historically disadvantaged parents the opportunity to share their experiences at East and other CCPS schools, both the good and the bad. These discussions helped focus our outreach activities, and parents appreciated the opportunity to be heard. I learned a great deal from those discussions.<\/p>\n

Something a parent said at one of the forums always stuck with me. \u201cWe\u2019ve said all this before,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople always ask our opinion, and then nothing happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

I was determined not to let that happen at East, so I created a Community Outreach Committee to serve as a vehicle to keep me focused on issues important to students whose needs often fall through the cracks in the crush of everything a school principal has to deal with on a daily basis.<\/p>\n

I am very grateful to the parents, community leaders and faculty members who invested so much of their valuable time to serve on that committee. Many of the school\u2019s outreach activities and practices were a direct result of the committee\u2019s work.<\/p>\n

We hosted a Harvest Party at the Robert Moton Center on Center Street in Westminster. The event featured food, dancing, face painting and games. It was a way for the school to connect with families, who for a variety of reasons felt uncomfortable in a school setting.<\/p>\n

The school participated in block parties organized by Grow Mission near Bishop\u2019s Garth. It was gratifying to witness our students and parents having fun in their own neighborhood. The school\u2019s involvement helped strengthen its ties with the families residing in that neighborhood.<\/p>\n

To help African-American students recognize the power of education, the school organized field trips to Coppin State and other Historically Black Colleges and Universities. A special effort was made to ensure \u201cat-risk\u201d students were included on these trips. The experience was eye-opening for many who attended, some of whom came to believe for the first time in their lives that attending college was a real possibility for them.<\/p>\n

We reached out to our Hispanic community by hosting a parent forum at St. John\u2019s Catholic Church. CCPS interpreters helped facilitate that discussion.<\/p>\n

One of my favorite activities was making home visits to meet with parents and students who had never had an educator in their homes before.<\/p>\n

For me, it was about developing relationships and finding ways to make sure the school was meeting the needs of all of its students. Many of the relationships I developed during that time endure to this day, and it is still a treat for me to run into students I worried about back then, who are doing well today.<\/p>\n

We worked hard to provide meaningful professional development for teachers, including working with Ruby Payne\u2019s “A Framework for Understanding Poverty,” which explored the culture of poverty and its relation to education. We wanted to equip our teachers with the knowledge and tools they needed to effectively engage hard to reach students.<\/p>\n

We worked hard to create an environment in which students enjoyed coming to school, understood why school was important, and could see a positive future for themselves.<\/p>\n

I made a concerted effort to diversify the school\u2019s faculty, and I worked hard to make sure all teachers and staff felt comfortable and supported.<\/p>\n

We did more than pay lip service to the issue of diversity, whether it was defined in terms of a student\u2019s race, ethnicity, socio-economic status or intellectual and emotional well-being, and we made a real difference in the lives of many students.<\/p>\n

It was something we did together as a school community, and it was all very personally rewarding for me.<\/p>\n

Each student was different, each deserved my attention, and I felt a personal responsibility to develop a relationship with as many students as I could because in the end, it\u2019s that relationship which matters most \u2014 the relationship educators have with their students.<\/p>\n

Do we know them? Do we know how to motivate them? Do we know how they learn best? Have we made their parents partners in the process?<\/p>\n

Put students in whatever category you like; the key to their education boils down to meaningful relationships.<\/p>\n

Our approach to making a difference for students was always a practical one. Lots of people virtue signal and make speeches about diversity. We tried in a small way to do something about it. We weren\u2019t trying to change the world, we simply did the best we could to change lives \u2014 one student, one family, one teacher at a time.<\/p>\n

I wouldn\u2019t give a plug nickel for any prescriptive one-size-fits-all government initiative to accomplish anything. History has proven time and again, such initiatives are doomed to fail and a colossal waste of money.<\/p>\n

But put together a school-based team of committed stakeholders who genuinely want to make a difference for students, and anything is possible.<\/p>\n

We need to unshackle our teachers and school leaders from government bureaucrats who tie their hands, killing innovation and preventing schools and educators from adopting the policies and practices best suited to the individual school communities they serve.<\/p>\n

As long as politicians and government bureaucrats are allowed to substitute their judgment for the judgment of the people working in and with local schools, public education will never improve.<\/p>\n

The best thing bureaucrats \u2014 whether federal, state or local \u2014 can do to improve schools is to provide them what they need \u2026 and then get out of their way.<\/p>\n

School leaders and classroom teachers know better than anyone else what their students and school communities need to thrive.<\/p>\n

What they don\u2019t need is people who know nothing about their students or their school communities telling them from afar what they must and must not do.<\/p>\n

Chris Roemer resides in Finksburg. He can be contacted at chrisroemer1960@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The best thing bureaucrats can do to improve schools is give them what they need and then get out of their way, writes Chris Roemer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":234,"featured_media":177284,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"apple_news_api_created_at":"2025-07-17T18:07:51Z","apple_news_api_id":"67bd0f8b-ccb1-496d-a97d-be6dbfdc34f5","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2025-07-17T18:07:51Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AZ70Pi8yxSW2pfb5tv9w09Q","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"middle","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"subheadline":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[75,80,81],"tags":[24457],"feature":[],"location":[],"type-of-work":[],"coauthors":[4235],"class_list":["post-11564437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-carroll-county-times","category-cct-latest-headlines","category-cct-opinion","tag-social"],"post_status":"","edit_last":0,"edit_lock":0,"highlights":"","original_byline":"","original_canonical":"","original_category":"","original_email":"","original_id":0,"original_pubdate":"","original_source":"","primary_section":"81","primary_tag":0,"print_workflow_body":{"deck_headline":"","print_title":"Chris Roemer: School leaders know what students need | COMMENTARY","print_subheadline":"","print_priority":"","print_placement":"inside","print_planned_ready":"","print_pub_date":"1752811200","print_slug":"CCT-L-ROEMER-0718","print_budget_line":"","print_excerpt":"The best thing bureaucrats can do to improve schools is give them what they need and then get out of their way, writes Chris Roemer.","print_notes":"","photo_limits":"Photo limits are: 1 featured image, 5 featured gallery images, 5 embedded gallery images and 5 in-article embedded images. Articles that exceed these limits will not export. Please adjust images to reflect these limits.","print_featured_gallery_richtext":"","print_inline_galleries_richtext":"","print_inline_images_richtext":"","print_content":"

When I was the principal of Westminster East Middle School, I made a concerted effort to connect with families who often felt overlooked.<\/p>

Our outreach efforts were not zero-sum undertakings. Meeting the needs of the underserved did not mean ignoring the needs of other students.<\/p>

One of the first things we did was host forums designed to give historically disadvantaged parents the opportunity to share their experiences at East and other CCPS schools, both the good and the bad. These discussions helped focus our outreach activities, and parents appreciated the opportunity to be heard. I learned a great deal from those discussions.<\/p>

Something a parent said at one of the forums always stuck with me. \u201cWe\u2019ve said all this before,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople always ask our opinion, and then nothing happens.\u201d<\/p>

I was determined not to let that happen at East, so I created a Community Outreach Committee to serve as a vehicle to keep me focused on issues important to students whose needs often fall through the cracks in the crush of everything a school principal has to deal with on a daily basis.<\/p>

I am very grateful to the parents, community leaders and faculty members who invested so much of their valuable time to serve on that committee. Many of the school\u2019s outreach activities and practices were a direct result of the committee\u2019s work.<\/p>

We hosted a Harvest Party at the Robert Moton Center on Center Street in Westminster. The event featured food, dancing, face painting and games. It was a way for the school to connect with families, who for a variety of reasons felt uncomfortable in a school setting.<\/p>

The school participated in block parties organized by Grow Mission near Bishop\u2019s Garth. It was gratifying to witness our students and parents having fun in their own neighborhood. The school\u2019s involvement helped strengthen its ties with the families residing in that neighborhood.<\/p>

To help African-American students recognize the power of education, the school organized field trips to Coppin State and other Historically Black Colleges and Universities. A special effort was made to ensure \u201cat-risk\u201d students were included on these trips. The experience was eye-opening for many who attended, some of whom came to believe for the first time in their lives that attending college was a real possibility for them.<\/p>

We reached out to our Hispanic community by hosting a parent forum at St. John\u2019s Catholic Church. CCPS interpreters helped facilitate that discussion.<\/p>

One of my favorite activities was making home visits to meet with parents and students who had never had an educator in their homes before.<\/p>

For me, it was about developing relationships and finding ways to make sure the school was meeting the needs of all of its students. Many of the relationships I developed during that time endure to this day, and it is still a treat for me to run into students I worried about back then, who are doing well today.<\/p>

We worked hard to provide meaningful professional development for teachers, including working with Ruby Payne\u2019s \"A Framework for Understanding Poverty,\" which explored the culture of poverty and its relation to education. We wanted to equip our teachers with the knowledge and tools they needed to effectively engage hard to reach students.<\/p>

We worked hard to create an environment in which students enjoyed coming to school, understood why school was important, and could see a positive future for themselves.<\/p>

I made a concerted effort to diversify the school\u2019s faculty, and I worked hard to make sure all teachers and staff felt comfortable and supported.<\/p>

We did more than pay lip service to the issue of diversity, whether it was defined in terms of a student\u2019s race, ethnicity, socio-economic status or intellectual and emotional well-being, and we made a real difference in the lives of many students.<\/p>

It was something we did together as a school community, and it was all very personally rewarding for me.<\/p>

Each student was different, each deserved my attention, and I felt a personal responsibility to develop a relationship with as many students as I could because in the end, it\u2019s that relationship which matters most \u2014 the relationship educators have with their students.<\/p>

Do we know them? Do we know how to motivate them? Do we know how they learn best? Have we made their parents partners in the process?<\/p>

Put students in whatever category you like; the key to their education boils down to meaningful relationships.<\/p>

Our approach to making a difference for students was always a practical one. Lots of people virtue signal and make speeches about diversity. We tried in a small way to do something about it. We weren\u2019t trying to change the world, we simply did the best we could to change lives \u2014 one student, one family, one teacher at a time.<\/p>

I wouldn\u2019t give a plug nickel for any prescriptive one-size-fits-all government initiative to accomplish anything. History has proven time and again, such initiatives are doomed to fail and a colossal waste of money.<\/p>

But put together a school-based team of committed stakeholders who genuinely want to make a difference for students, and anything is possible.<\/p>

We need to unshackle our teachers and school leaders from government bureaucrats who tie their hands, killing innovation and preventing schools and educators from adopting the policies and practices best suited to the individual school communities they serve.<\/p>

As long as politicians and government bureaucrats are allowed to substitute their judgment for the judgment of the people working in and with local schools, public education will never improve.<\/p>

The best thing bureaucrats \u2014 whether federal, state or local \u2014 can do to improve schools is to provide them what they need \u2026 and then get out of their way.<\/p>

School leaders and classroom teachers know better than anyone else what their students and school communities need to thrive.<\/p>

What they don\u2019t need is people who know nothing about their students or their school communities telling them from afar what they must and must not do.<\/p>

Chris Roemer resides in Finksburg. He can be contacted at chrisroemer1960@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>"},"print_workflow_exported_ts":"1752775697","print_workflow_exported_username":"Philip Caldwell","print_workflow_shapes":"","print_workflow_side":{"print_section":"24225","print_status":"24232","add_export_buttons":"","print_endpoint":"tribune"},"really_short_title":"","short_title":"","syndication_source":"","market_neutral_title":"","social_title":"","dfm_hub_post_id":0,"paywall_level":"metered","featured_media_content":{"content_type":"image","content":{"id":177284,"title":"HUUKBOCAGNHA5CTVG65YKLYKN4","filename":"HUUKBOCAGNHA5CTVG65YKLYKN4.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/migration\/2022\/10\/09\/HUUKBOCAGNHA5CTVG65YKLYKN4.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/2022\/10\/09\/carroll-county-school-board-support-living-in-challenging-times-reader-commentary\/huukbocagnha5ctvg65yklykn4-3\/","alt":"","author":"154","description":"","caption":"Students arrive on a rainy first day of school at Robert Moton Elementary in Carroll County.","name":"huukbocagnha5ctvg65yklykn4-3","status":"inherit","uploadedTo":177269,"date":1665306000000,"modified":1752775602000,"menuOrder":0,"mime":"image\/","type":"image","subtype":"","icon":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.svg","dateFormatted":"October 9, 2022","nonces":{"update":false,"delete":false,"edit":false},"editLink":false,"meta":false,"authorName":"Migration Temp","authorLink":"","uploadedToTitle":"Carroll County school board support; living in challenging times | READER COMMENTARY","uploadedToLink":null,"filesizeInBytes":3328222,"filesizeHumanReadable":"3 MB","context":"","height":785,"width":1200,"orientation":"landscape","sizes":{"thumbnail":{"height":"150","width":"150","url":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/migration\/2022\/10\/09\/HUUKBOCAGNHA5CTVG65YKLYKN4.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","orientation":"landscape"},"medium":{"height":196,"width":300,"url":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/migration\/2022\/10\/09\/HUUKBOCAGNHA5CTVG65YKLYKN4.jpg?w=300","orientation":"landscape"},"large":{"height":670,"width":1024,"url":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/migration\/2022\/10\/09\/HUUKBOCAGNHA5CTVG65YKLYKN4.jpg?w=1024","orientation":"landscape"},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/migration\/2022\/10\/09\/HUUKBOCAGNHA5CTVG65YKLYKN4.jpg","height":785,"width":1200,"orientation":"landscape"}},"credit":"Jeffrey F. 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